(AFP) – Nov 10, 2008

BAMAKO (AFP) — One person died and five were injured Monday when security forces opened fire on a protest over plans to privatise drinking water distribution in northwestern Mali, hospital and official sources said.

Authorities intervened after hundreds of protesters ransacked city hall in the town of Lere and threw stones at the mayor and his deputy, injuring them and several other people, said a municipal official.

"There was disorder, so the national guard shot real bullets," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Ousmane Diallo, the head of the local medical centre, said the facility treated six demonstrators for bullet wounds.

"We have received for emergency care six demonstrators wounded by bullets fired by elements of the national guard. Some cases are very serious," Diallo told AFP.

"Some of them had bullets in the shoulder, others in the buttock, which may indicate that they were fleeing the security forces," Diallo said.

One of the six injured, Kassim Sidibe, later died, a source close to the medical centre said.

It was unclear how many guards shot, with a city hall source putting the number at "one or two," while others said several had opened fire on the crowd.

Like other towns in Mali, Lere, which is in the region of Timbuktu 700 kilometres (435 miles) north of Bamako, suffers from water distribution problems.

A delegation of Lere residents plans to be in Bamako Tuesday to ask authorities to suspend the decision to privatise drinking water distribution, sources said.

They will also demand that the guards who shot protesters be punished.

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